page_title: Farfisa
section_title: 1960s
hierarchical_section_title: Farfisa / History / 1960s
caption_attribution_description: Farfisa logo on Combo Compact (edit1)
context_page_description: Farfisa is a manufacturer of electronics based in Osimo, Italy. The Farfisa brand name is commonly associated with a series of compact electronic organs and later, a series of multi-timbral synthesizers. Today, the Farfisa brand mainly produces intercom systems with the company ACI Farfisa which makes and distributes systems for video intercoms, access control, video surveillance, and home automation. The Bontempi group owns the keyboard division Farfisa brand name.
  At the height of its production, Farfisa operated three factories to produce instruments in Camerano in the Marche region of Italy. Farfisa also made radios, televisions, and other electronic items. The Farfisa brand name is an acronym for "FAbbriche Riunite di FISArmoniche", which translates to "united factories of accordions".
context_section_description: One of the first rock organists to play and spotlight the Farfisa was Domingo Samudio, known as "Sam the Sham", who with his group The Pharaohs had their first hit "Wooly Bully" in the summer of 1965. In 1966, a Farfisa was prominently heard in "Double Shot (Of My Baby's Love)" recorded by the South Carolina-based group The Swingin' Medallions.
  Spooner Oldham, the house organist of Alabama recording studio Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, can be heard playing the Farfisa on numerous southern soul recordings from the 1960s, notably "When a Man Loves a Woman" by Percy Sledge, among many others.
  The 1967 release of "Second Best" by The Household Sponge features a Farfisa Compact, played by Geoff Wright.
  Richard Wright's use of the Farfisa Compact Duo was integral to Pink Floyd's sound, the organ being his main instrument on the albums The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, A Saucerful of Secrets, More and Ummagumma. By 1970, he had started to use a Hammond Organ onstage and alternated between that and the Farfisa, depending on the song. The Farfisa was last used on "Dogs" from Animals, but Wright reintroduced it to his keyboard setup on David Gilmour's 2006 tour, featured notably on the Pink Floyd song "Echoes".
  Sly Stone from Sly and the Family Stone played a Farfisa Professional, as seen at their 1969 Woodstock Festival performance.
  Hugh Banton from Van der Graaf Generator originally used the Farfisa Professional, applying his knowledge of electronics and contacts as a former BBC engineer to customise it with a variety of additional effects pedals, including distortion and phasing. The Professional is the only organ used on The Aerosol Grey Machine and The Least We Can Do Is Wave to Each Other, after which he also started using Hammonds. It was retired after the group's 1972 split.
  John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin used a Farfisa on "Dancing Days" from Houses of the Holy, as well as occasionally using a VIP-255 or a Professional model on stage. Another famous recording is the 1970 A Tribute to Jack Johnson by Miles Davis, where Herbie Hancock plays spontaneous licks on a broken Farfisa.
  Composer Philip Glass began using Farfisa organs with his ensemble in the late 1960s.
caption: Farfisa logo on Combo Compact
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